That’s how my day has been going. I found out today that I don’t have to return to work until March 8th, I thought it was March 1st so that was a huge score! (As a side note you can see how well I do math, I can’t even count out twelve weeks on a calendar correctly!)

Carter’s belly button cord giblet finally fell off! Hallelujah! There isn’t much that grosses me out in life but those cord giblets are just disgusting.

Hannah has adjusted well to the transition to a toddler bed. Tom and I are going to start pricing mattresses soon and just move her completely over to a full size bed.

Carter has started waking up one to two times in the night which is super awesome for me! I hope he follows his sister’s footsteps and moves right in to sleeping through the night with no issue.

I’ve been a little bored throughout the day just sitting at home, there is only some much TV one can watch and only so many things that need cleaned. I decided to take the kids out to Wal-Mart on Monday to see how hard it is with the two of them and no other adults with me. It went excellent! Hannah was relatively good with only a brief crying fit because she wanted out of the cart, she soon got over that when she saw I was not going to give in. Carter slept through the whole event and I managed to buy everything on my list without forgetting anything!

I also weighed myself today and was surprised to discover I have lost almost all of my baby weight, 24 pounds to be exact! I had only gained about 34 pounds this pregnancy and it is almost all gone! Wa-hoo! I would like to start exercising again soon but for now will focus on what I eat. I told Tom today that I can’t even remember what it’s like to have a “diet,” he agreed he couldn’t remember either. I am going to start making a list of the “healthy” things I should be eating so that I can start to remember once again.

Despite all the anxiety I was feeling about having the two kiddos at the same time by myself I’ve done surprisingly well. I’ve learned that Hannah can wait a minute as she seems to always find me nursing to be the opportune time to need something. We could be sitting together for an hour and the moment I go to nurse Carter her world is coming to an end. She cracks me up! Carter is an excellent baby, he is never one to cry for no reason. He pretty much eats, sleeps and has occasional moments of being awake-staring around the room. His jaundice looks to be about gone and his cord has almost fallen off (Thank God!)

Hannah is a pretty good big sister, she loves on her brother as much as possible. She also needs him in her sight as much as possible. If she doesn’t see him when she gets up from a nap she will wander the house saying “Baby” until she finds him. Occasionally she does “pat him” which is more like pounding on him and we have to correct her. So far so good!

Christmas was interesting this year, Tom had put together the kitchen, art aisle and baby doll station on Christmas Eve so that it would be ready for Han on Christmas. Surprisingly she became infatuated with the art aisle and it was like pulling teeth to get her to open her presents that where under the tree. With a little coaxing we did get her to open all of her presents. My parents and Tom’s family came over to our house for Christmas dinner, that is always nice. Han enjoyed having her Aunt and Uncles around to play with her.

I was so pleased with Hannah yesterday at the mall. While getting her ready to go I’m running through all the possible issues we may run into especially since we are going to the dreaded mall. I wanted to get her picture with Santa and I am running out of time…especially since I avoid the mall on the weekend.

We get to the mall and I made the executive decision of no stroller. Typically I bring the stroller she doesn’t want to sit in it and then she ends up walking or being carried. I could just see me trying to carry her and push a stroller by myself, that would for sure end in disaster! So we walked hand in hand through the parking lot and through the JCPenneys all the way to the Santa area. We entered the line and she peered through the rail to look at Santa. When the line moved forward I called to her and she came. If we stood for a little longer she would sit on the floor and wait. I could not believe my eyes! No matter what if she started to wander just a little I would call her and she would come. I was so impressed I wanted to cry. It was eventually her turn, she smiled and seemed to enjoy her Santa time, we paid and walked back through the mall. With no incidents, no crying and no meltdowns!

I was astonished and glad to see that we can go to the mall and it is not a total disaster. Her next test will be doing actual shopping!

Monday, Tom had gone to have his vasectomy consultation, he’s pretty adamant about getting snipped. We talked it over and part of me is okay with it and part of me still feels unsure. He is totally sure, so much so that he is going a couple of days after his birthday to have it done.

Yesterday was a debacle, Tom and I went to my last OB appointment and then afterwards we went to the last ultrasound appointment together. The OB went great, we are both ready for the C on Monday. The ultrasound was just obnoxious. Everything was fine, heart rate was good. Carter was doing his practice breathing the whole time. Then it was time to look for the body movements and he was sound asleep. He didn’t kick or punch or wriggle his body, he was out like a light. I was perfectly fine with this but the policy is that if after 30 minutes the baby doesn’t move they then put you on a fetal monitor. So 30 minutes comes and goes with no movements. She puts me on the monitor and as soon as she shut the door he started going berserk! My stomach was visibly moving, I could feel him kicking and wriggling around. It was almost comical. Then he moved off of the monitor and she comes back in. He again does not move a muscle, it’s like he knew the woman was there and he did not care for her one bit! After an hour of being there we finally got the all clear to go home.

Later that night we headed to Babies R Us and Hannah cried through the entire store. I couldn’t concentrate on looking at anything so I got what I could remember and we headed home. I swear she knows the baby is coming. She has really been wanting held A LOT lately and by me only. She has also been crying a lot more over anything. She doesn’t give a warning just starts crying about whatever it is that she wants. I guess she’s trying to get all the attention now before she has to share it with another!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Love Hot Chocolate! Egg nog is pukey, there is a reason you put liquor in it!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Who is this Santa you speak of? Tom and I wrap presents and put them under the tree.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? I always do white lights. I wouldn’t mind color so much if it wasn’t a multitude of colors on one strand.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No never, I am not opposed to it I just have never seen it in the store.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Day after Thanksgiving. This year, ahem, the tree is up but not decorated and the wreath is on the door. I’m nine months pregnant, I’m cutting myself some slack!

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? We call it Christmas. I enjoy eating ham because I don’t eat ham any other time of the year.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? The year my brother and I got all MacGyver on our presents prior to Christmas Day. We slit the tape open so that you couldn’t tell we touched them and then gently re-taped them. It was genius and of course his idea!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? My parents always told the truth about Santa. That being that he is not real.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? When I was a kid after dinner we could pick one gift from under the tree. Now I have a present nazi-I call him Tom. He does not allow me to open any presents prior to Christmas Day.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? White and Purple ornaments, white lights and a lot of ornaments that our personal to our family.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love snow but we normally don’t get enough to write home about.

12. Can you ice skate? Um, no!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I’m drawing a blank here. I’ve gotten a lot of awesome gifts over the years but can’t think of one in particular that is standing out at the moment. This year I’m getting a baby so I’ll move that to the top of my list!

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? The reason for celebrating and enjoying time together as a family.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? My cookies.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Tom and I always go to Longwood, I always enjoy that. Now we bring Hannah along and she enjoys it too!

17. What tops your tree? Star or nothing as it is a 9′ tree and I am a 5′ 5″ woman.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Both.

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? Yummy! I even like the flavored ones!

20 Favorite Christmas Show? All the puppet ones about Rudolph and Frosty.

21. Saddest Christmas Song? I don’t think they exist in my iPod.

22. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I’ve been really stuck on SheDaisy’s Christmas CD so I’m going to go with their song: That’s What I Want for Christmas